


The show can't go on

by virvatulilla



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Theatre, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 11:32:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13433850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virvatulilla/pseuds/virvatulilla
Summary: Theatre au. Luna & Reldan sibling relationship stuff. This was a xmas gift to a friend, and i'm putting it here too now.





	The show can't go on

 

“I can’t believe tomorrow is going to our last show!” Luna said to Reldan in the dressing room. “It’s always hard to believe it’s over.”

“Don’t say it’s over yet,” Reldan said, scratching his face, being careful not to ruin his make-up. “Hurry up, we still have to clean up before we can go home.”

Luna pulled her shirt over her head, not even hesitating or turning to see if anyone was looking at her. Their small theatre group had seen each other naked so many times over the few years they had been together that changing clothes like this was an everyday thing for them. Even having a debate in just their underwear – like Vicos and Niroe were doing right now – was not unusual.

After quickly changing into her usual clothes Luna followed Reldan to the stage. The audience had left a while ago, and all that was left was to clean up the small stage for the next show. The theatre they were in was a small and low-budget, but ambitious one. Luna knew they had reason to be ambitious – they had a good director, with his high-level education background, and all their other instructors were top-tier as well.

While she was cleaning up all the shredded paper Luna thought that it was unfair of people to doubt the artistic qualities and the level of their skills just because everything in the theatre was by queer people. In addition, it was mostly also  _to_ queer people, which, Luna thought, might have been one reason a critic who had come to see their play had thought it was beyond comprehension.

“Here.” Asheden, one of the older members of the cast said to Luna, pushing a crate full of shredded paper towards her. “Put the ones you collected here, I think you can vacuum the rest. We can’t use all of it anyway since tomorrow is our last show.”

Luna did what Asheden advised her to do. In a couple of minutes cleaning up the stage was almost done, all that was left not cleaned up was props that belonged to Vicos and Niroe, who were probably still having a debate in the changing room.

“Why aren’t you done yet?” Alex, the director asked when he came to the stage from the foyer. “Where is everyone?”

Luna looked around and saw she and Asheden were the only ones on the stage. She had been so busy cleaning up that she hadn’t paid attention to her surroundings. “I saw Vicos and Niroe still in the dressing room a while ago,” Luna said. “And unless everyone else is hiding between the seats there I have no idea where they could be. They were right here with us a few minutes ago.”

Alex looked to the seats on his left and raised one eyebrow. He didn’t say anything, but from the clang Luna heard from someone bumping their head against a chair it was clear the rest of the cast was hiding among the chairs for some reason.

It seemed like Alex didn’t havet he patience to deal with childish behaviour from his actors. He walked to the front row and sat down. “I’ll speak to you two, then,” he said to Luna and Asheden, gesturing them to come to the edge of the stage. “It’s about the party we’re holding after the last show…”

“Hey!” Reldan shouted from under the seat on which Alex had sat on. “Why can’t you wait for us to be ready?”

Alex must have known someone was under the seat because he didn’t even flinch when Reldan shouted – unlike Luna. She yelped, and her sudden voice made Reldan jump and hit his head on the underside of the seat.

“What on Earth are you doing?” Alex asked. “Is this another race? Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve loved to take part in crawling under the seats.”

There was more noises from the third row and Luna saw Frela get up so she could see Alex and talk to him. “We’re doing this because Mát told us to,” she said. “We’re checking for trash. People leave more coins behind them as well than I originally thought they would.”

“Okay, then get on with it,” Alex said. “Asheden, would you please go get Vicos and Niroe from the dressing room? I’ll wait for everyone to be done until I start talking about tomorrow.”

As everyone else continued doing what Alex had told them to do Luna sat down on the edge of the stage in front of Alex. “What should I do?” she asked. “I've finished my part of cleaning up, I think.”

“Tell me how you feel about tomorrow,” Alex asked. “Or next month. Are you thinking about what might come next or are you still invested in this show?”

Luna thought about the questions for a moment. “I’m both excited and sad about tomorrow,” she said. “I’m always excited when I know we’re gonna have a show, but I’m sad that it’s going to be over. And yet, I know that soon you’re going to have a new play for us to rehearse.”

“You’re right about that,” Alex said, “I can’t tell you what the next play is going to be about, but you won’t get the scripts until some time early next year. Until that we’re gonna do something else.”

All those who had been crawling under the seats were ready shortly. Vicos and Niroe had also came to the stage from the dressing room to put their props where they kept them offstage. Not long after that everyone had gathered on the side of the stage. Reldan sat next to Luna, and she had to start plucking dust balls from his hair and clothes. It was good that they didn’t allow people to bring food into the audience, cleaning up would’ve been so much harder if there was food crumbs or popcorn under the seats.

“Now it seems like everyone is here,” Alex said. “I just needed to give you info about the party tomorrow. If someone wants to drink alcohol, bring your own, since some of us are underage we won’t offer alcoholic beverages to everyone.”

“Is that it?” Vicos groaned and stood up. “We already know that because it’s been the same every time before.”

“There’s more if you would sit down and listen,” Alex said calmly, and looked at Vicos, not speaking before he sat back down. “This time only the ones who  _have to_  can stay overnight. We’re going to have guests on the day after tomorrow, and everyone will be escorted from the premises before they arrive. And of course, we will drive you home after the party if needed. If there’s anyone who has to stay overnight, inform me by before the show tomorrow. Now you are free to go.”

Luna and Reldan lived within a walking distance from the theatre, so they waited with Frela until her mom came to pick her up.

“What did your friend say about the show?” Luna asked Reldan when they were walking home. “Was he the one who you’ve been talking to online? The one from a six hours drive away?”

“That was him,” Reldan said with a huge smile on his face. “He was in town for some relative’s wedding that’s tomorrow, but he came earlier because he wanted to see our show! And he loved it! I’m so happy!”

Luna smiled. “That’s great! I’m happy for you.”

“Oh, stop it,” Reldan joked and lightly shoved Luna.

“I saw him give something to you,” Luna said, shoving Reldan in return. “What is it? A birthday present?”

Reldan dug into his backpack. “An early birthday present, yes,” he said, showing Luna a big, heart-shaped cookie wrapped in sheer plastic. “Do you want some?”

“Seems like he cares about you a lot,” she said, looking at the cookie. “Did he ask you out with the cookie or something? Anyway, I’d like some.”

Reldan opened the wrapper. “You can have half,” he said as he broke the heart cookie in two pieces. “He didn’t ask me out, what are you talking about? It’s a birthday gift.”

Luna bit into the cookie. It was chocolaty and very soft, almost melting on her tongue. “Well, as long as you’re happy,” she said. “You’ve gotta stay his friend though, I will die if I never get to eat his cookies again.”

“I’ll remember that,” Reldan chuckled.

 

The next day after school Luna and Reldan went directly to the theatre after school. Their school day had been longer than expected, because their PE class had the other side of the city. Going to the theatre from there took long enough that they wouldn’t have time to go home before they had to be at the theatre.

Luna and Reldan were there early, but they weren’t the first ones there. Alex had already gone inside and left the dressing room door unlocked for the actors.

Because they were there so early Luna and Reldan decided to kill some time by playing a round of Go Fish. They had just started a second round when Frela came in. “Are you two the only ones here?” she asked, and groaned. “But Vicos  _knows_  he should come early to help me with my makeup. Could either of you help me?”

Luna stood up. “We can both try?” she said. “We could do our makeup at the same time and try to help you.”

Before Luna or Reldan could even start helping Frela Vicos rushed in, panting and apologizing for being late. He said a lot about being late from several buses, but Frela didn’t seem to hear half of it when she started to talk back to him about her day.

“Oh shit,” Reldan said suddenly, rummaging through his part of the makeup table. “I think I took my eyeshadow back home. I might not  _die_  if I don’t have it but…”

“Here,” Luna said, handing hers to Reldan. “You can borrow mine.”

“Thanks,” Reldan said, taking the black eyeshadow from her. “Have I told you what a miracle it is that you’re, like, always a lifesaver? Because you are a wonderful person.”

Luna shrugged. “I guess,” she said. “I need that too, by the way, so don’t use it up. I know you need a lot.”

 

The show was over so fast it felt like just a second had passed. In the last round of applause everyone had huge smiles on their faces, Alex had a bouquet in his hands, and for that new last moment in the burning spotlights Luna felt like she was on top of the world.

They ran offstage to wait for the audience to start moving to the foyer. “I’m afraid,” Kúura was saying when Luna came offstage. “I saw my mother in the audience. She’s never come to our shows before! Do I go to the foyer to see her because I kinda wanna stay here and not have an awkward discussion about it now.”

“We’ll come with you,” said Sera, gesturing to herself and Vicos. “If she starts being ridiculous in front of you, we can handle it.”

Luna turned towards Reldan, who was beside her like usual. “Do you think father is here?” she asked. “He said he’d come this time.”

“I didn’t see him,” Reldan shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I only saw mom, but then again I didn’t really have time to stare into the audience.”

The others, including Kúura escorted by Sera and Vicos started to go towards the foyer to meet with the friends and acquaintances that had come see the show that night. Luna and Reldan looked at each other.

“I guess we should go too,” Luna said and shrugged. “I mean, we’re probably going to be disappointed whether he came to see the show or not.”

Reldan sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I know Luchar will let me down as long as I’m not the son he wanted me to be. And as that’s something I could never be, it would be a miracle if he suddenly said he’s trying to grow as a person.”

Most of the audience had already left the foyer, but despite of that it took a while until Luna and Reldan saw their family.

Luchar was there too.

“No way,” Reldan gasped. Luna could see a spark of hope in his eyes, even though he quickly tried to snuff it out. “How much are you gonna bet he only came here to pick the others up?”

Luna didn’t answer because their family had already seen them. Reiven, who had worked on the play too gave the twins approving nods while their mother and big brother talked about what they had liked about the play.

“I didn’t see it,” Luchar said when Tindro stopped talking for a second. “I would have, but you know, there was so much...”

“Oh  _please_ , save the excuses,” Reldan snapped. “Everyone here knows you never would have even set foot in this building if mom hadn’t made you do it. You had  _months_  to come to a show, there’s no way you didn’t have time if you’d just  _wanted_  to come. But obviously, you didn’t. Don’t blame it on your schedule, I overheard you say to someone on the phone you’d rather burn at a stake than see our show.”

The foyer had fallen silent, and everyone was staring. The look in Luchar’s eyes was furious, and if they hadn’t been in public he would probably have hit Reldan. But there were people around, so he restrained himself. “I’m just trying to understand… all  _this_ ,” he said quietly, gesturing all around. “You can’t expect me to just, magically come around and start supporting that you two do something like this while you’re still living under my roof?”

Luna sensed that Reldan was close to losing his cool, and put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. It was shaking, but so was Reldan “No,” she said, squeezing Reldan’s shoulder tightly to hide the trembling of her hands. “You know what, I think me and Reldan don’t deserve this kinda treatment from you. We’ve given you time to adjust, we’ve been patient, dealing with all the shit you’ve given us about our identities over the years since we came out three years ago. I’ve had enough of you trying to beat us into being the kind of children you wanted to have – you hear me? Today’s our eighteenth birthday, so you’re not obligated to keep us under your roof anymore.”

Others in the foyer had started talking again, but the silence between Luna and her family was deafening. Luchar’s eyes looked at Luna like he wanted her dead, but he didn’t even blink, holding Luna’s equally unwavering stare for a time that felt like years. Then, ever so slowly he closed his eyes.

“Come on, Tiola,”, he said. “We’re going home. I don’t give a shit what the kids do or say after talking to me like that.”

That said he turned around, not even seeing the whole place anymore and walked out of the door. Mom, Reiven, and Tindro didn’t follow him immediately, which Luna was grateful for. She let out a huge sigh that she felt she’d been holding since she was born.

“You did great,” Reiven said, stepping in to close Luna in a tight embrace. “I’m so proud of you. You know you’re both always welcome in my home if dad kicks you out or you can’t go home for some other reason.”

Mom put a hand on each of the twins’ shoulder. “I’m not happy that it had to go like this,” she said in an apologetic tone. “But I am proud that you had the guts to stand up to him like that. I have to go now and try to get him to cool down, but I will do everything to help you, make your lives easier. I love you.”

“Thanks mom,” Reldan said as she followed Luchar outside.

“Well, we need to get going too,” Reiven said. “I don’t wanna have to walk home.” She and Tindro hugged Luna and Reldan goodbye and followed their parents outside.

Reldan looked around and then at Luna. “That went well,” he sighed. “Thank you for saying those things. I would’ve hurt him if you hadn’t stepped in then.”

“And he would’ve hurt you,” Luna said. “That’s why I had to step in.”

Now most of the production crew’s aqcuaintances were leaving, and Luna and Reldan went to Frela and her mum Imarigen, who were sitting close to each other by the wall. When they saw the twins approaching both of them stood up. Imarigen spread her arms, and without a word both Luna and Reldan walked right into her embrace.

“It’s alright,” Imarigen said softly. “You did good.”

They stayed there for a while before letting go. To Luna and Reldan, Imarigen was one of the three adults that had always been supportive of them – the other two being Alex and Mát, who were family friends, even though Luchar didn’t want to admit it.

The foyer was almost empty already, and Alex had to come and tell everyone that was left in there to leave because the actors were going to have their party. Before Luna and Reldan could leave Imarigen assured them that they knew they could come over whenever they needed to. Frela almost had to chase her mum away.

Luna and Reldan were the last ones to go clean up their props from the stage, apparently most of them had already gone to the party place to make preparations.

There wasn’t much to clean up, so Luna and Reldan were done in a jiffy. They were among the last to leave the theatre as well, climbing in the car with Alex, Frela, Asheden and Sera. Because there were more people than seats in the car, Frela, who was the smallest of them sat on Sera’s lap. Neither of them seemed to mind the arrangement – on the contrary, Luna thought they would’ve wanted to sit like that even if there had been enough space in the car.

When they arrived at Mát and Alex’s house the party was almost already underway. The rest of the cast was welcomed with warmth, and lead to the table filled with food.

After a few moments Luna and Reldan were sitting together on the far side of the party. Everyone else was having a good time, they were laughing and singing, but Luna and Reldan didn’t feel like having fun after Reiven had called Luna and told her it would be better if they didn’t come home that night.

Luna looked up from her drink when Mát came to sit beside them. “Hey,” he said. “Bad news? I got a call from your mother earlier, and she explained basically what happened between you guys and Luchar earlier. It's time for announcements soon - I'm gonna talk about you birthday twins anyway, so if you don't want everyone to know what happened, I can just say something in general about what you did there - because everyone knows something did happen, but they're too polite to ask even though they're worried.”

Luna shared a look with Reldan. “We would appreciate it if you said something,” she said to Mát. “Just don't tell them everything, but say that we need support, and it's fine.”

“I wasn't going to,” Mát reassured. “Just enough to keep the people satisfied with the information they get. And of course I'll ask for their support for you if you guys want to.”

“Can you say we kicked his ass?” Reldan asked. “Or something like that, I wanna keep believing it's a victory for us, not for him. Also yes I want you to say we need support, because I'm afraid we can't go home very soon.”

“I'll do that,” Mát smiled, and stood up, clinking his glass to get everyone's attention while he made the announcement. “As all of you already know,” he began, “it's Luna and Reldan's eighteenth birthday today! However,” Mát continued before anyone started singing Happy Birthday, “I think that a birthday shouldn't be celebrated just because it's the day of someone's birth, but we should remember good deeds those people have done.

“Today, Luna and Reldan stood up to their father, who is notorious for not accepting of our kind of people. It wasn't easy, but they managed to kick his ass, and he's defeated - for now. Ass-kicking has consequences, and our lovely twins are going to need support to get through the shit-storm their father is going to create to make their life difficult.”

Mát looked at Luna and Reldan, and after sharing a look they both stood up. “Right now taking our minds off of this whole ordeal would be amazing,” Reldan said.

“But in the future I'm afraid we're gonna need more substantial help,” Luna continued. “We don't know when we can go home next, or if we're gonna be thrown out...”

Alex stood up and walked to Luna and Reldan. “You're not gonna have to deal with this alone,” he said firmly. “Mát and I are always gonna be here for you, whatever you need. You can count on that.”

Alex’s statement was echoed by many others, including but not limited to Vicos, Frela, and Asheden. It was clear everyone wanted to help them; many hands took a hold of them by what they could reach – wrists, arms, shoulders, hem of shirt, and pulled them in the middle of the group. Frela took each twin by the hand and looked at them with so much love in her eyes that Luna was choking up from the soft emotions that it gave her.

“You know this already,” Frela said, looking at Luna and Reldan, “but we are your family. We’re here for you, both of you, our family’s youngest members – especially now that your blood family is acting shitty towards you. You know we’re always gonna be here for you.”

Everyone agreed with Frela. Reldan reached to grab Luna’s hand when they were showered with compliments, and promises that they’d receive all the help they needed.

After a while Luna and Reldan were seated on the sofa and someone made each of them hold a candle. “If either of you want to say something to everyone, now’s the time,” Mát said.

Luna and Reldan looked at each other, and Luna nodded. Reldan turned to look at the friends gathered around them. “We have to thank you for offering your help,” he said. “And I’m happy to know every one of you will be willing to do whatever they said they would, if we just ask you. Knowing Luchar we don’t know how much help we’ll actually need because there’s no knowing what he’ll do. But it already helps to know that if we need help with this situation, we’re gonna get it. And that’s awesome.”

Reldan looked at Luna, and she continued. “The hardest thing right now,” she said, “is that we don’t know what’s going to happen – it can be anything between getting kicked out and our father saying he’ll think about accepting us. I don’t know if you’ve prepared anything for our birthday, but the greatest gift you could give is all the love you’ve already shown us. It’s something I always forget when thinking about how to deal with life with our father – that we don’t have to deal with it alone. Thank you for that.”

Someone turned off the lights, and lit the candles in Luna and Reldan’s hands. Due to the twins’ request earlier, they sang Happy Birthday twice, first to Luna, and then to Reldan, following the order in which they had been born.

Luna and Reldan looked at each other, and for the first time in a long time, both of them felt truly safe. “Happy birthday,” they said to each other.

And for the first time in a long while, it actually was a happy birthday.


End file.
